A man holds a wounded boy in front of a house. The boy received shrapnel wounds from a rocket during a US air strike on a suspected insurgent position in the village.

Korengalis have a reputation for being tough and clannish, and have fought off all outside attempts to control them—including that of the Taliban in the 1990s. After the strike, which villagers said killed and wounded a number of civilians, elders declared jihad on American forces in the valley.